The Portland Trail Blazers didn't reach a rookie scale extension with Scoot Henderson before the season. That decision looks even better with Henderson struggling so mightily to start the year.
He had a golden opportunity to step up with Ja Morant still sidelined, but head coach Micah Nori demoted him back to a bench role in favor of Sidy Cissoko. That decision immediately paid off for Portland, who won two straight games against the Oklahoma City Thunder for the first time in five years.
Both teams have unfortunately dealt with key injuries to start the season. But for the Blazers, those who have been healthy have played high-level hoops, contributing to an impressive 8-3 start. Henderson may be the only healthy exception on the roster as the one player who genuinely looks worse to start the season.
Scoot Henderson's Blazers future looks murkier than ever
He's quite the enigma, and it wouldn't be surprising to see Henderson get hot eventually, given the volatility of his play. But at the same time, it's those inconsistencies that made it more difficult for general manager Joe Cronin to invest in him long-term.
"A lot of times these types of deals are hard to come by, especially for a high-variance player like Scoot has been so far, where he's shown some really great moments and then some other moments where there are still a few questions around his game," Cronin said at Media Day. "So those can be tricky sometimes, but speaking from the Trail Blazers' perspective, he's definitely a high-priority player for us. Would love it if he were here with us long term, and if it doesn't happen this offseason, I wouldn't be too concerned with it. We still have one more offseason to deal with it if we need to."
I don't know about you, but I'm starting to get concerned with it.
Plenty has already changed between now and when Cronin made this comment in the offseason. There's been more clarity surrounding how this crowded backcourt all fits together. Nori deserves a ton of credit as a first-year head coach who took over a confusing roster and immediately had them playing to their strengths to start the season. It's also a testament to the selflessness of this group, with guys willing to put their egos aside for the betterment of the team.
But with these pieces proving they can fit better than expected, and Henderson trending downward after failing to reach an extension, it's easy to see why we'd be concerned about his Blazers future.
Ultimately, Henderson not reaching an extension could turn out to be in his best long-term interest as he would benefit from a change of scenery. Portland is accelerating its timeline too quickly and can no longer afford to live with his growing pains and sporadic play. Why would they when Nori has Ol' Reliable veteran Jrue Holiday as an option off the bench?
Henderson still gets his minutes, but it's more so about the off-ball role he's now playing in Portland. The playmaking isn't at a high enough level at this point in his career to run a playoff-caliber offense. And though he's made tremendous strides defensively, it's hard to be that off-ball guard when your shot isn't consistently going in. Henderson is averaging a career-low 8.4 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 2.4 turnovers in 22.0 minutes per game this season on just 32/23/81 shooting splits.
Perhaps the lack of an extension hurt Henderson's confidence, or maybe he's struggling to adapt to this new role with all the moving parts in the Blazers' backcourt. But whatever the case may be, it's just further confirmation that Cronin ultimately made the right call not to reach an extension.
Maybe Portland can use these struggles as leverage in negotiations next summer. However, Henderson isn't really playing as the "high-priority" player Cronin described him as this offseason. It's one of the few unfortunate developments in what has overall been an incredibly strong start to the season for the Blazers.
At 22, Henderson still has time to change the trajectory of his career. But it's increasingly looking like that opportunity may have to be elsewhere.
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